Panel One: Show people playing a game and really digging itPanel Two: Show those same people working on a game, talking about all the features they want to put in it making it awesome.Panel Three: (Caption: Eight years later)Have those people bitch because they wasted time creating a new version of an IP they don't own instead of changing up characters designs and names and making their own game.

It doesn't matter how long they worked on the game or how good it is, they don't own the IP and if SEGA didn't do make them take it down, then it opens the floodgates for people to make games based on any of their properties and devalue them.

I get that many people here are anti-capitalism and against companies owning IP's (until it comes to companies and games they like such as Valve or Minecraft) but without that you get a glut of subpar games (and yes, worse than Sonic '06 would come out) which is partially (read mostly) to blame for the crash of '83, which ironically enough, was pretty much caused by Activision legitimizing third parties meaning anyone could make games for the Atari, which they did-most of which were horrible- making people not want to buy any games. So in a way, be glad Sega had it taken down (it's not like the game is lost forever, I just found it in 30 seconds of searching) it might be the greatest game ever, but when you figure you now won't see "Sonic Furries Fandemonium" or whatever it makes it worth it.

Mostly true, but when you consider how commonplace unlicensed doujins, figurines, costumes etc. are in Japan, this argument loses a lot of its weight - especially when you consider that neither the fan-made Sonic or Chrono Trigger games would have cost anything.

This is the equivalent of preventing a fan from wearing and distributing free Sonic t-shirts - sure, there might be pennies to be made, but honestly? Free advertising is free advertising, free publicity is free publicity. Part of the reason why Valve is so respected is because it gives unlicensed mods its blessing and even distributes them on Steam. That respect can and will translate into revenue, as it could have for Sega and Square Enix.

The Devs submitted a "formal letter" to Sega but I imagine Sega gets a glut of letters every day and likely they dismissed it as yet another project by fans whose grasp exceeded their reach. What gets my goat is Sega doesn't bring it's legal foot down on all those terrible fucking flash games based on the Sonic license and only seems to care about "protecting their IPs" when the fan-made game in question is better than their own products. Sadly, considering the state of Sega these days, that covers most of the fan games out there.

Mostly true, but when you consider how commonplace unlicensed doujins, figurines, costumes etc. are in Japan, this argument loses a lot of its weight - especially when you consider that neither the fan-made Sonic or Chrono Trigger games would have cost anything.

This is the equivalent of preventing a fan from wearing and distributing free Sonic t-shirts - sure, there might be pennies to be made, but honestly? Free advertising is free advertising, free publicity is free publicity. Part of the reason why Valve is so respected is because it gives unlicensed mods its blessing and even distributes them on Steam. That respect can and will translate into revenue, as it could have for Sega and Square Enix.

This is just a dick move.

Perfectly sums up what I was going to say.

And yet people still don't understand why Valve fans hold such love for the developer.

I get that many people here are anti-capitalism and against companies owning IP's (until it comes to companies and games they like such as Valve or Minecraft) but without that you get a glut of subpar games

From the original Escapist news article:Bomber Games - the site behind the game - said that it had previously contacted Sega about using its copyrighted material, via email at first and then later by way of a formal letter.

They did notify Sega that they were working on it, when that was I cannot say. Depending on how long it's been since Sega was made aware that the project was ongoing it kinda makes it a dick move to let them develop it for 8 years without bringing down the hammer only to shut them down a few days after they finally release it.

Legally the situation is black and white; Sega has every right to shutdown a fan project. That doesn't mean we have to agree with their decision; nor does it mean we can't view it in a negative light. Since by all outward appearances they let the game go through the full 8 years (maybe less) of development and shut it down only when it was released. If they didn't want them making it they should have shut them down long before now.

Panel One: Show people playing a game and really digging itPanel Two: Show those same people working on a game, talking about all the features they want to put in it making it awesome.Panel Three: (Caption: Eight years later)Have those people bitch because they wasted time creating a new version of an IP they don't own instead of changing up characters designs and names and making their own game.

It doesn't matter how long they worked on the game or how good it is, they don't own the IP and if SEGA didn't do make them take it down, then it opens the floodgates for people to make games based on any of their properties and devalue them.

I get that many people here are anti-capitalism and against companies owning IP's (until it comes to companies and games they like such as Valve or Minecraft) but without that you get a glut of subpar games (and yes, worse than Sonic '06 would come out) which is partially (read mostly) to blame for the crash of '83, which ironically enough, was pretty much caused by Activision legitimizing third parties meaning anyone could make games for the Atari, which they did-most of which were horrible- making people not want to buy any games. So in a way, be glad Sega had it taken down (it's not like the game is lost forever, I just found it in 30 seconds of searching) it might be the greatest game ever, but when you figure you now won't see "Sonic Furries Fandemonium" or whatever it makes it worth it.

They had permission from Sega.

Had permission from Sega.

Had permission from Sega.

Had permission from Sega.

Had permission from Sega.

I've repeated the above several times because you obviously failed to read it the first dozen times, when it was posted on every blog and thread on the subject. Not only did they have permission from Sega, they obtained it *several times* during the life of the project.

RowdyRodimus:[W]hen you figure you now won't see "Sonic Furries Fandemonium" or whatever it makes it worth it.

Won't you, though? Sega didn't take down any of those terrible flash games out there, they only went after a project that could rival their own releases.

The group kept the name because they wanted to honour the original game. That's why it's called a fan project. They didn't rename it to Avenues of Anger and try to make big bucks selling a rip-off.

I'm not saying "screw intellectual property." I am saying, however, that fans are people who like what you do and it's generally bad karma to f*ck them over. Sega had the right to do what they did, but that doesn't lessen their douchebaggery.

Sega has the right to do this. Did the fans ever bother to contact sega in the EIGHT FRIGGGIN years it took to make that game and ask for permision to use their IP, (no seriously a group of guys spent 10 years making a kings quest game, and they were allowed to release because they asked for permision from Activision). I know 8 years is a lot of work, but most fan games (except mario games) are shut down so you should have seen this comming.

Not only did they have permission from Sega, they obtained it *several times* during the life of the project.

Got a source on that, Kingbro? I haven't heard about Sega responding.

zombie711:Sega has the right to do this. Did the fans ever bother to contact sega in the EIGHT FRIGGGIN years it took to make that game and ask for permision to use their IP, (no seriously a group of guys spent 10 years making a kings quest game, and they were allowed to release because they asked for permision from Activision). I know 8 years is a lot of work, but most fan games (except mario games) are shut down so you should have seen this comming.

As far as I can tell, there was no official "You have our permission" statement from Sega. All it sounds like from what I've read is that they were informed of it, and they made no response in any direction. That said, I haven't read every single blog or thread about it, but if you can point one out where they state that they were in fact given permission, not just that they notified Sega, I'll gladly concede this point.

After all that's said, as much as I feel sorry for the work gone into this wasted, if they didn't receive an official statement from Sega up to this point, I'm not all that surprised. It's unfortunate, but it's also big business for you. I wish they'd be willing to look at it from the point of view of other developers and say "Hey, why don't you work for us to help us make better games", but obviously they see that bad games sell just fine thank you, and they will stick with that. Pretty much the reason I won't buy any new Sega games.

Again, like the Chrono Resurrection project, I give SEGA the facepalm award for not greenlighting this project and actually make money off it. Seriously sometimes I don't think these guys reason with their wallet sometimes. They don't like money.

Well not really, they added new features including an entirely new, long, dungeon (wasn't that good but it was something) and an interesting monster arena thing that I had fun with, also allowed people to experience the game who couldn't before and didn't have the know how for emulating, in other words, yea they made a port but it was good

Actually, every company has the right to shoot down fan contributions and defend its own stagnation through hamfisted legal tactics, worrying about potential to make pennies first and tossing away every potential there is to gather new people, new ideas and actual passion and maybe have any hope of returning to past glories.

It's dumb to the point of being suicidal, both in terms of actual ability to release quality content and uphold a reputation that can't be resumed with "Terrible", but they can do that, and no amount of whining will change it.

Don't be angry at Sega, it's pointless and most importantly it's not even news anymore that they're a bunch of idiots devoid of any form of creativity and common sense. You should be mad, mad like hell, at investors that actually keep dumping money in a company like this; they're the one that keep it alive and keep allowing this crap to happen.

All of that would be a nice speech... Except that there are already tons of shitty fan-made versions of Sonic games on sites like Newgrounds. So they aren't shutting it down to save us all from shitty Sonic games. That doesn't make sense anyway, seeing as they release most of the shitty Sonic games themselves (regardless of what anyone might think of stuff like Sonic 4, stuff like Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis and Sonic Classic Collection are undeniably bad as referenced in the first panel of the comic today).

KeyMaster45:Legally the situation is black and white; Sega has every right to shutdown a fan project. That doesn't mean we have to agree with their decision; nor does it mean we can't view it in a negative light. Since by all outward appearances they let the game go through the full 8 years (maybe less) of development and shut it down only when it was released. If they didn't want them making it they should have shut them down long before now.

It's slightly more complex than that. A sad feature (and big flaw IMO) of copyright law is that if you are aware of something that violates your IP, you are OBLIGATED to shut it down, and if you don't you will be seen to have waived your right to enforce your IP and will lose claim to it in the future.

The smarter move though: Find great fan projects, and then convince the fan devs to come make it into an official project that they can release.

Also, why pick on Sega when other people are doing the same thing and yet still fanatically praised by fans. Star Fox 64 on the DS? An 'update' of Kirby Superstar where the only new level was a palatte swap?